Electrochemistry (Other)

January 08, 2013

Here is a nice photograph of the late Jim McElroy posing with a Gemini fuel cell module (container only) made from spare parts after the program ended. All the flight hardware burned up in re-entry. The documents on the table are the original GE manuals that were being discarded along with the parts.

January 05, 2013

It is with a heavy heart that I am posting this. Jim McElroy died Thursday (1/3/2012) after suffering a massive stroke. Jim was one of the true fuel cell pioneers beginning as a young engineer at General Electric and ending active at Bloom Energy and Infinity Fuel Cell and Hydrogen. He was not all that welcoming to his supervisor's suggestion to get into the fuel cell group as he did not want to spend his career designing fuel tanks in aircraft wings! Jim was a key person on the team that placed the first PEM fuels cells for a practical application in the Gemini Space Program and over the years he amassed more than 55 patents in this industry. His fertile mind was active right up until his death, guiding a team of young engineers to implement his truly innovative ideas. He was a remarkable man.

I knew Jim from my time at Giner, where I demonstrated an anode tail-gas hydrogen recovery system (utilizing partial-pressure swing adsorption) for Bloom Energy. Jim was a great guy; I am glad I was able to hear some good GE stories from conversations with him and Giner's Tony LaConti (another old-timer from the GE Gemini program who has now passed away.) We will all miss him greatly.

June 20, 2012

Thanks to all of you for following my blog. Rather than writing about some hot clean energy topic, this message is more personal. The time has come where I am looking for new opportunities and challenges in my professional life.

Since graduating from MIT with BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering Practice, my experience in the clean energy/green energy/alternative energy industry has been broad and deep. My energy work spans much of the hydrocarbon and electricity value chains, with biomass and nuclear work included. A sampling of my projects includes laboratory- and commercial-scale fluidized bed gasification of biomass, designing an economical cogeneration/district heating/district cooling system for a university hospital complex, computer modeling to automatically determine the minimum system weight of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered unmanned air vehicle (UAV) flying a two-week mission at a 70,000 foot altitude, and developing a water electrolyzer that will be capable of directly filling a fuel cell vehicle’s tank with 5,000 psig hydrogen. That's just the beginning. Ask for my resume for a complete overview.

I have also done a fair amount of pharmaceutical and biotech device development work. My pharmaceutical work involved aseptic fill and finish operations of a controlled-release human growth hormone formulation, while my device development work has included developing the cooling subsystem for a new portable human organ persufflation/transportation device, as well as a portable methanol-fueled infusion fluid warmer. It seems that even my bio-related work involves energy!

Please contact me by posting a comment below if you have (or know of) consulting or employment opportunities that jibe with my experience, would like to network, or to request a copy of my resume. A good overview of my experience and interests can also be found in my LinkedIn profile HERE. Or feel free to contact me through LinkedIn; be sure to request a connection so we can stay in touch.

This is an exciting and upbeat time for me as I seek out new opportunities for work challenges. Thanks for your help and consideration.

Hello Everyone!

Thanks to all of you for following my blog. Rather than writing about some hot clean energy topic, this message is more personal. The time has come where I am looking for new opportunities and challenges in my employment life.

My experience in the alternative energy/green energy/clean energy industry is broad and deep. My energy work spans much of the hydrocarbon and electricity value chains, with biomass and nuclear work included. A sampling of my projects includes laboratory- and commercial-scale fluidized bed gasification of biomass, designing economical cogeneration/district heating/district cooling systems for a university hospital complex, computer modeling to automatically determine the minimum system weight of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered unmanned air vehicle (UAV) flying a two-week mission at a 70,000 foot altitude, and developing a water electrolyzer that will be capable of directly filling a fuel cell vehicle’s tank with 5,000 psig hydrogen. That's just the beginning. Ask for my resume for a complete overview.

I have also done a fair amount of pharmaceutical and biotech device development work. My pharmaceutical work involved aseptic fill and finish operations of a controlled-release human growth hormone formulation, while my device development work has included developing the cooling subsystem for a new portable human organ persufflation/transportation device, as well as a portable methanol-fueled infusion fluid warmer. It seems that even my bio-related work involves energy!

My commitment to and interest in the energy field is evident. My recent participation in MIT Sloan’s “Clean Energy Ventures: Creating Innovative New Businesses Through Entrepreneurial Management,” as part of their Executive Certificate program, is testament to that ongoing dedication to the field.

Please contact me by posting a link on this post if you have (or know of) employment opportunities that jibe with my experience, would like to network, or to request a copy of my resume. A good overview of my experience and interests can also be found my LinkedIn profile HERE. Or feel free to contact me through LinkedIn; be sure to request a connection so we can stay in touch.

October 25, 2011

I got a phone call recently from Ballard Material Products Division about their new "drop-in" alternative to Toray's widely-used carbon fiber paper. The new gas diffusion layer (GDL) material comes in two different thicknesses: AvCarb® MGL190 (or MGL 190, 0.19 mm thick) and MGL370 (or MGL 370, 0.37 mm thick). It is claimed to be a drop-in replacement to Toray's GDL, except at a lower cost. An additional benefit is being U.S.-made, rather than an import, which helps provide domestic content on U.S. Government projects. (Full Disclosure: Ballard has teamed with my employer Giner Electrochemical Systems, LLC. on a U.S. DOE-funded research program to develop modeling of transport phenomena in H2/Air PEM fuel cells.)

Ballard Material Products Division was previously owned by Textron. The Ottawa Business Journal reported in 2001 that Ballard buys Textron unit for $12.8M US. Ballard announced that the deal included 66 patents issued and pending worldwide, covering 14 innovations. Since that time Ballard has not moved the Material Products Division to British Columbia, but allowed it to remain in Lowell, MA.

A Ballard/Toray comparison (left) shows the AvCarb® material at the same thickness, bulk density, and porosity as the Toray material. In addition, the AvCarb® has improved electrical resistivity, incresead flexural strength, tensile strength, and flexural modulus. A sample of both the MGL190 and MGL370 are in-transit to Giner, and will be tested in the coming weeks. We will likely test it for fuel cell, electrolyzer, and possibly other electrochemical applications.

I have not been able to find any information on AvCarb® MGL190 or MGL370 on the Web, so I guess you saw it here first!

The meeting, the first of the 2011 - 2012 ECS local chapter Seminar Series, was held in the Egan Research Center at Northeastern University. There was a reception, followed by a Lecture and Dinner. Numerous undergraduate and graduate students were on hand, from both Northeastern and MIT. Commercial companies included small businesses like Giner, Inc., branches of large corporations like Hamilton Sundstrand (a subsidiary of United Technologies), and the venture capital-funded Sun Catalytix.

The speaker was Dr. K. M. Abraham, Research Professor at the Northeastern University Center for Renewable Energy Technologies. The topic was 'Rechargeable Batteries for Long Range Electric Vehicles'

The abstract: "Today's lithium ion batteries are unable to meet the energy density and cost profiles of 200-300 mile all-electric vehicles. Low cost rechargeable batteries with specific energies exceeding 500 Wh/kg are needed to make such vehicles widely attractive to consumers. In this talk, I will present a brief update of the energy density and cost evolution of lithium ion battery technology. The prospects for new materials for ultrahigh energy density batteries will be discussed with updates on the rechargeable Li-air and Li-sulfur systems."

The talk was an interesting mix of the history of lithium batteries, as well as a review of some recent lithium battery research.

Professor Mukerjee announced that the next seminars will be held in October and November. I'm looking forward to seeing what the topics will be!